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lower income groups to obtain their homes. In addition to solving the building and financial problems the Official Receiver had to resolve forty disputes about the areas of individual flats. The flats had been sold by the Company by reference to a plan which had not been approved by the Building Authority. The plans subsequently had to be altered to comply with the requirements of the Building Authority and these purchasers were unlucky enough to receive a smaller flat than that which they had con- tracted to buy. In one or two cases the flat, due to alterations in the plans, no longer existed.
Marriages. All marriages, except non-Christian customary mar- riages, are governed by the Marriage Ordinance (Chapter 181). By its provisions notice of an intended marriage must be exhibited at the registry for fifteen clear days. An Ordinance enacted during the year gave the Registrar of Marriages a discretion to reduce this period in special circumstances. Under the Ordinance the Governor may grant a special licence authorizing a marriage with- out notice at all, but the grant of such a licence is extremely rare. The Registrar exercised his discretion in 27 cases and the Governor granted 3 special licences.
There are at present 81 churches licensed for the celebration of marriages, three full time Marriage Registries in the urban areas and six part time sub-registries in outlying districts and the New Territories. These sub-registries were opened during the year to make the facilities of a registry marriage more readily available to the public and to popularize registered marriages amongst the Chinese community. Some are in the premises of Kaifong associa- tions. 3,907 marriages were performed during the year at the main Marriage Registry in Hong Kong, 4,750 at the main Kowloon Marriage Registry, 308 in sub-registries and 1,090 at licensed places of worship. The total was 707 more than in 1959.
The validity of Chinese customary marriages is not affected by the Marriage Ordinance, and such marriages do not require to be registered. Marriages under the Ordinance have, however, become popular with all classes of the Chinese population, as the advan- tages of having an official certificate of marriage are now more widely appreciated. There has, therefore, for many years been a steady increase in the yearly total of registered marriages. In order to accelerate and assist this changing trend in public opinion plans
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